Route New Zealand State Highway 6

1 route

1.1 nelson/marlborough
1.2 west coast
1.3 otago
1.4 southland

route
nelson/marlborough

state highway 6 crossing pelorus river in marlborough

the highway leaves sh1 @ blenheim, heading northeastward across rugged hills @ base of marlborough sounds. reaches sounds briefly @ havelock, heads inland valley of pelorus river. @ pelorus bridge highway again turns north, tends southwest approaches coast of tasman bay. highway travels through city of nelson , nearby town of richmond, continuing southwest across plains of wairoa , motueka rivers.

from these plains, road ascends rapidly 634-metre hope saddle. here, highway heads westward, along valley of buller river , tributaries. beyond murchison, valley narrows become scenic buller gorge, , highway twists way high above waters of river.

west coast

state highway 6 near kumara junction.

the highway leaves river valley broadens, turning south 6 kilometres westport, river reaches sea. here, highway keeps close tasman coast charleston on 100 kilometres, turning inland briefly near runanga. 100-kilometre stretch includes 2 of coast s larger towns, greymouth , hokitika.

from hokitika, highway moves away coast, though still keeps within 5 kilometres of sea. highway continues south past ross , harihari, moving through state forests crosses several fast-moving rivers. seventy kilometres south of harihari, highway skirts lake mapourika , reaches tourist settlement of franz josef glacier. glacier itself, 1 of 2 within easy walking distance of highway, lies nearby in southern alps, here come close tasman coast. second glacier, fox glacier located 20 kilometres further south. highway again briefly touches coast @ bruce bay before heading inland past lake paringa, before reemerging on tasman coast @ knights point. 30 km stretch of highway here south haast noted rugged scenery. after crossing haast river, highway turns eastward , inland river s valley, climbing past gates of haast , crossing 563-metre haast pass, southernmost of 3 main road passes across southern alps.

otago

from here, highway again turns south, following makarora river valley northern tip of lake wanaka. highway skirts eastern coast of lake before crossing neck, saddle in mountains lie between lakes wanaka , hāwea. highway continues along western shore of hāwea, south along cardrona river albert town, close tourist centre of wanaka.

state highway 6 @ nevis bluff.



state highway 6 skirts slopes of remarkables , shore of lake wakatipu south of queenstown.

ten kilometres wanaka, highway met sh 8a, spur of sh 8 skirting shore of lake dunstan. sh 6 continues south along western shore of lake, paralleling sh 8 lies on eastern shore. close cromwell, second spur, sh 8b, connects 2 highways. here, sh6 turns west, following narrow , twisting kawarau gorge, emerging close wine-producing area of gibbston.

at western end of kawarau gorge, midway between cromwell , queenstown, highway passes nevis bluff, steep schist rock outcrop rising 100 m above kawarau river. highway has history of being disrupted , closed @ point due instability , rock falls bluff. first road around bluff constructed in 1866, opening access wakatipu goldfields. significant slips occurred @ bluff on 1940-02-20, , blocking sh6 in june 1975. on 17 september 2000, large-scale rock fall buried highway @ bluff, , several motorists narrowly avoided being killed. fall caught on video , showed volume of 10,000 m³ main fall; resulting dust cloud seen 5 km away. transit new zealand conducted stabilisation drilling , blasting @ bluff twice in 2006 , again in 2007.

from nevis bluff, highway continues west, reaching frankton, close shore of lake wakatipu. highway turns south follow southeastern shore of lake, skirting foot of remarkables , hector mountains. stretch of highway in part tortuously winding, , rises , falls on stretch known devil s staircase .

southland

the highway leaves lake s shore @ kingston, continuing south garston, where, highway briefly follows course of infant mataura river before heading across rolling hill country upper reaches of oreti river near lowther. highway continues follow oreti south across southland plains, past towns of lumsden , winton before reaching terminus @ junction sh 1 in central invercargill.